The other day my husband and I caught a Lyft to my weekly therapy appointment. We had a young white guy from New York as our driver. He was polite and eventually the conversation turned to where we were all from and how we felt about my city of Nashville, Tennessee. My husband mentioned that we did not feel welcome here because I’m a veiled Muslim and he is a Latino immigrant. The guy was stunned! He proceeded over the course of our conversation to say that people misjudge and mistreat US Christians because of Christian terrorism too, just as they do with us. He also said that we Muslims just need to reach out more to our communities. Here is what I have to say about that.

For decades, and increasingly so after 9/11, Muslims have been reaching out to their surrounding communities through open houses, disaster relief efforts, charity, friendship, community events, Islam 101 classes, press conferences and releases, community iftars (fast breaking dinners) during Ramadan, and so forth. But so few non Muslims actually go. Who actually reads their local mosque’s press release sent out in the aftermath of a theorist attack, denouncing the perpetrators? Who goes to that Islam 101 class to see what we believe, how we practice our faith, and how we live overall? And you know what? When Muslims go to such events being put on by churches, we are proselytized to. But we don’t proselytize to our guests at our public events!

I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve heard a non Muslim say, “I just don’t understand why Muslims don’t publicly denounce terrorism!” Well guess what. We do. Over and over and over. Sheikhs issue fatawa against suicide bombings. Imams give khutbahs (sermons) against killing. At open houses, community events of all varieties, and Islam 101 classes Imams and other Muslim community leaders stand up and speak, explaining why it is un-Islamic to commit acts of terrorism. Islamic organizations issue press releases and even hold press conferences roundly rejecting terrorism. Here’s a good example.

Just a couple of weeks ago I went to an Eid al-Fitr public carnaval at a local park. There was free food and water, music, inflatables for children to play on, face painting, and balloons. Everyone was laughing and talking. The point was to bring everyone together. Sadly though, from what I saw, too few non Muslims came. At such events, the non Muslims who come are usually the same precious few, who faithfully reach out to us as we reach out to them. That’s wonderful – but not enough. Truthully, before any non Muslim judges us and our beautiful religion, they should all come to a mosque, break bread with us, and just generally meet us halfway as we reach out to them.

What about society generalizing Christians because of groups like the KKK? Well, I can’t speak for the thoughts of millions of people. But I can tell you that the effects of such alleged “prejudice” against Christians are entirely different for Christians than are those of parallel prejudices against, say, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, or Sikhs. When people don’t like Christians, they don’t go out to dinner with them. When they don’t like us religious minorities, they desecrate our houses of worship and our graveyards. They beat us and dump us in ponds. We and those who stand up for us have our throats slashed. We are pushed down subway stairs. Our religious head coverings are ripped from our heads, so often in fact that among the Muslim community videos on how to defend oneself from such an attack go viral online. I could go on and on. This is our reality every day: fear, violence, and hate.

Back to that conversation in the Lyft. I closed our conversation by saying what I’d like to say here; my religion teaches me that we were put on this earth to worship Allah with all of our being and actions. I personally believe that one of the greatest ways that we can worship Allah is to love His creation. So we need to reach out to each other in good faith and with love and mercy. One of my favorite Quran ayat (verses) is 49:13. In The Clear Quran English translation it reads: “O humanity! Indeed, we created you from a male and female, and made you into peoples and tribes so that you may get to know one another. Surely the most noble of you in the sight of God is the most righteous among you. God is truly All-Knowing, All-Aware.” Note that it doesn’t say that our superiority depends on our race, education, or wealth. It depends on who’s a better person on the inside. It’s about our hearts and souls, our words and our deeds. We were created diverse and unique so that we can all celebrate this diversity as a sign of God’s greatness. Subhanallah!

Moral of the story: we should all be reaching out to each other. Muslims and many other minorities have been, are continuing to, and always will be doing so. Why? Because that’s what Allah wants. Now it’s your turn! Go to that open house. Talk to that Muslim hijabi in line at the grocery store. Strike up a conversation with a turbaned Sikh man. Compliment a Hindu lady’s Sari. Break bread with a Jewish family on the Sabbath. The cycles of hate, violence, and fear will never end if we don’t learn to see each other as human and therefore equally deserving of kindness, respect, and love.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments or on my Facebook page. Thank you! Until next time, peace! ✌🏻

Peace everybody ✌🏻 I’m sure all of you have heard the word jihad somewhere, somehow. Probably you’ve heard it at least once in the media; most likely in the context of reports on terrorism. And I’m pretty sure you didn’t hear it in a positive context. But what is jihad, do Muslims practice it, and if so what does that practice look like? Should the world fear “Islamic jihad”? Is it synonymous with “extremism”? These are questions I’d humbly like to answer today.

Jihad is an Arabic word. It means to struggle or to strive, especially with a praiseworthy aim. Jihad can be done in a variety of ways. According to Islamic tradition, the greater jihad is to struggle against what we call the nafs: that is, the lower self that drives our base desires. The lesser jihad is warfare in the cause of justice on behalf of the oppressed, whether they be ourselves or others. Let me give you some examples of the greater jihad. Muslims are supposed to pray five ritual prayers per day, every day, right? Right. One of those prayers is at dawn, and at this time of year falls around 4:15am. During spring it was around 3:30am! That’s early! Now, my nafs, or base desires, want to be sound asleep at that time. So jihad for me looks like me setting a bunch of alarms and waking up to pray whether I feel like doing so or not. Another example would be to stand up to a tyrant by spreading truth and helping those that he or she is oppressing. This is jihad.

For example, during the Holocaust many people formed an underground resistance against Hitler and his regime. They hid Jews in their attics and lied to Nazi soldiers. This to Muslims would be greater jihad! Lesser jihad would be going to war against the Nazis as a last resort. Jihad is this: fighting evil and injustice.

Now. The lesser jihad needs to be explained, because this is the form of jihad that is soooo misunderstood. This form of jihad isn’t holy warfare. It is a struggle against oppression. A good example is when the first Muslims went to battle against the tribe of the Prophet Mohammad that was persecuting him and them. This was a battle of self defense after all other options had been exhausted. The Prophet was exceedingly merciful in his treatment of those conquered and even gave away the spoils rather than hoard them. This is lesser jihad. It is a last resort, only to help the oppressed, and only when absolutely all other options have been exhausted. There are also strict rules for warfare under Islam, as instructed by our beloved Prophet Mohammad, PBUH. Here are a few:

“Do not kill any child, any woman, or any elder or sick person.” (Sunan Abu Dawud)

“Do not practice treachery or mutilation.” ( Al-Muwatta)

“Do not uproot or burn palms or cut down fruitful trees.” (Al-Muwatta)

“Do not slaughter a sheep or a cow or a camel, except for food.” (Al-Muwatta)

“If one fights his brother, [he must] avoid striking the face, for God created him in the image of Adam.” (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim)

“Do not kill the monks in monasteries, and do not kill those sitting in places of worship.” (Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal)

“Do not destroy the villages and towns, do not spoil the cultivated fields and gardens, and do not slaughter the cattle.” (Sahih Bukhari; Sunan Abu Dawud)

“Do not wish for an encounter with the enemy; pray to God to grant you security; but when you [are forced to] encounter them, exercise patience.” (Sahih Muslim)

“No one may punish with fire except the Lord of Fire.” (Sunan Abu Dawud)

“Accustom yourselves to do good if people do good, and to not do wrong even if they commit evil.” (Al-Tirmidhi)

I got these ten rules of warfare from this link. They are recorded in what are called Hadith: recorded sayings and events of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).

Furthermore jihad is not meant to be used to compel others to convert to Islam. The Quran says in chapter 2, verse 256 that there is “to be no compulsion in religion.” So neither jihad is ever about spreading Islam. The greater jihad is about defeating our lower selves and the lesser is about defending justice.

Hopefully it is becoming apparent from these evidences that jihad is not suicide bombing, bombing in general, killing of innocents, rape, or any other form of so-called “warfare” that, rather than end injustice, perpetrate it. It is also becoming clear that groups like ISIS or Al Queda are violating every Islamic rule.

So next time someone accuses a Muslim of jihad, stand up and proudly say that you too will engage in jihad. We should all be struggling against our lower selves and against injustice!

It happened again in England. This time in London. First of all let me say loud and clear that I join with my fellow Muslims in wholeheartedly condemning this latest act of terrorism and all other such acts. They are deplorable and go against every Islamic value and teaching.Having said that, allow me to address some misconceptions about Islam and terrorism.

Not only are Muslims not terrorists, but also no matter what terrorists say, terrorists by their very nature are not Muslims. Quran 2:256 says, “Let there be no compulsion in religion….” Quran 109:1-6 tells us to tell non Muslims “to you your religion and to me mine…,” rather than argue with them, much less fight them. Quran 5:32 tells us that in the eyes of God killing one innocent person is like killing all of humanity. Likewise, to save one innocent person is to save all of humanity. Murder is obviously therefore a huge sin. Terrorists, by perpetrating horrid acts, are going directly against the Word of Allah. They are heretics and outside of the fold of Islam. We should realize that if they call themselves Muslims, they’re lying just as they lie about everything else. Why should anyone take their word for anything?

People who claim to be Muslim aren’t the only terrorists. There is, for example, a “Christian” group called The Lord’s Resistance Army in Africa. Or, how about Buddhist violence in Asia? Hindu terror in India? Zionist Jewish violence? And so on. No one calls these religions inherently violent or flawed, nor does anyone say that they have teachings that cause violence. That is as it should be. And because their violence typically targets people of color, the western media pays little attention to them. Everyone recognizes that these terrorists aren’t reflective of the religions they falsely claim to represent. We realize that these terrorists cannot and must not be trusted to tell us the truth about religion. Muslims and Islam deserve the same trust and intellectual honesty.

Some people think that Muslims don’t publicly speak out in condemnation of terrorism. This isn’t true. There are at least hundreds of instances of high profiles Islamic religious leaders speaking out against hate and terror. There’s this, for example. Or how about the Chief Egyptian Mufti who issued a fatwa (formal Islamic legal ruling) against terrorism. Then there’s the case of SEVENTY THOUSAND clerics in India issuing a ruling against terrorism. I could go on for ages. The cases of Muslims speaking up and out against violence are innumerable. They are available for anyone willing to see them. We ask that you hear our voices and believe us when we do everything we can to condemn hate and violence. Such deplorable actions being committed in God’s name is a sacrilege, as I’m sure we can all agree.

Please realize that Muslims cannot control terrorism anymore than anyone else can, but if we could we’d eradicate it. And when we have the opportunity to do something, we do. Besides fatawa against terrorism, every imam I’ve known has delivered khutbahs (sermons) right in the mosque against terrorism. There are many US Muslim soldiers working to keep peace in the world and eradicate terrorist groups.

I hope that this blog post has been informative. If anyone has questions about Islam or anything mentioned in the article, please leave a comment below or message me on my Facebook page. Thank you.

​In Saudi Arabia, during Ramadan – the holiest month of the year – Daesh bombed Medina, Islam’s second holiest city. Many people died. Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioon. In Turkey, Daesh bombed an airport, committing the worst of sins – murder – in the holiest month. Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioon. In Orlando, a man inspired by Daesh killed dozens of people, in the holiest month. Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioon. In Baghdad, yet again Daesh set off a bomb and many people died. People with families, with hopes, and with dreams. Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioon.
Ya Rabb have mercy on us. So many are dying, the world is bleeding, and we can’t fix it. We are tired of saying “Inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajioon” every. single. day. Grant us Salaam, Peace, in this world. Let the children grow up going to school to learn to read and not to fight. Let them play in the streets without gunfire and bombs marking the rythm of their days. Don’t let them know the pain of orphanhood. Don’t let them see their classmates and playmates die to satisfy the gods of war and greed for whom angry men lay aside their humanity. Save us from ourselves. Ameen.